1. Where were the wharves of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal located in Cumberland ?

Although the C&O Canal started at Washington, D.C. and ended in Cumberland, business wise Cumberland was the start of the Canal, for while all canal boats leaving Cumberland were hauling a pay load, mostly coal, the boats leaving Washington, D.C. for Cumberland mostly returned empty. Some boats did have return loads, such as fruit and farm produce, lumber, fish, flour, corn, and other merchandise.

The locations and owners of wharves were Basin Wharf, owned by Walsh and McKaig, at Shrivers Basin off Wineow Street in Shanty Town, the Potomac (Lynn's) Wharf on the Potomac River near the present Moose Home, and the Consolidation Wharf at the main canal basin off Wineow Street.

2. Who were the boat builders in Cumberland? Where were their facilities located?

Most of the boats that operated on the Canal were built in Cumberland at boatyards owned and operated by Fred Mertens, William Young, Doerner and Bender, Weld and Sheridan, Louis Miller, and Baries and Rossworm. Some of the boat builders would operate the boats and some would sell the boats to other parties. By operating a boat on the Canal, it is meant that the owner and builder would have a man and his family, if possible, take charge of the boat. The owner would collect a tonnage fee from whoever he was hauling for. In turn, he would